Couplings are used by fire department services to attach different segments of a fire hose, and are necessary to provide flexibility in hose lengths and ease of replacing a worn or punctured segment. Hoses are typically 1¾″ in outside diameter (“hose diameter”) with the coupling having an outside diameter of 2¼″ (“coupling diameter”), but may vary from a 1″ to 2½″ hose diameter with a coupling diameter of up to 4″. Oftentimes, couplings on multi-segment fire hoses cause problems of maneuverability by catching on doors, stairs and other protrusions as firemen drag the fire hose behind them. When this occurs, one of the two-person team must leave his/her co-worker alone and exposed to danger in order to free the hose. If a firefighter is alone, the catching of a hose may result in an extremely dangerous situation, including the loss of life and/or an end to forward progress unless the firefighter can backtrack to timely release the caught coupling. This disengagement intervention is counterproductive and bears a high safety risk for the fireman left alone operating the water hose on the fire site, while his/her co-worker leaves to solve the problem.
Typically, four water lines are connected to the fire truck. The material of all segments of fire hoses are white or silver with no indication as to the source of the particular hose on the fire site. Furthermore, the fire hose does not typically provide a readily and easily discernible indication as to the location of the building's exit, which can be extremely dangerous for a fireman who is disoriented within a burning building, trying to find his or her way out by following the hose.